


I've Got All My Life to Live

by Ferocia



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: AoS Season 2 spoilers, Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, Deaf Clint Barton, Domestic Avengers, F/M, M/M, Messed up AoS timeline, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Post agents of shield s1, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ferocia/pseuds/Ferocia
Summary: Set after Winter Soldier and Agents of SHIELD season 1, this story explores Wanda Maximoff slowly trusting the Avengers, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers falling in love, Kate Bishop and Lucky meeting the Avengers, Peter Parker meeting the Avengers, and becoming Spider-Man, the AoS crew joining the Avengers, and much more!Updated every Wedensday
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Jane Foster/Thor, Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 45
Kudos: 67





	1. Mandatory Team Dinner and Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

> Note on the Timeline:  
> This is set post Winter Soldier, in June 2015. Bucky has been living in the Tower for about six months and has regained most of his memories. The scene at the beginning of AoU happened, except Wanda defected to the Avengers after Pietro was (accidentally) killed by HYDRA fire. Laura Barton doesn’t exist, but Kate Bishop does. Wanda has been with the Avengers for about two weeks now. Iron Man 3 happened, but Tony didn’t blow his suits, and Thor 2 did happen. This is also set post AoS Season 1.

Natasha checked the clock on the training room wall and hurried for the locker room. She had totally lost track of time while she was dancing and now had only 10 minutes before Mandatory Team Dinner and Movie Night. She had skipped the last three weeks and Steve would really be on her back if she missed this one. Luckily, it wasn’t her turn to cook, so she just had to be on the common floor by 7:30. 

A five-minute shower would have to do, but at least the water was warm. Natasha twists her hair up into a bun, pulls on jeans and a sweater, and gets in the elevator with three minutes to spare. JARVIS delivered her to the 81st floor at 7:28 and she stepped out into total chaos. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pepper’s last meeting ran over. She expected to be done with work by 6, leaving her enough time to shower and destress before the fiasco that was Avengers Movie Night, but in actuality, she wrapped up at about 7:15. Her office is in the same building as the Avengers, but Movie Night is an informal affair and CEO clothes are probably not welcomed by certain participants. She now has to choose between her usual pre-Movie Night routine of deep breathing and meditation or casual clothes.

Clint would have to deal with her clothing choices because there is no way Pepper is going to spend more than thirty minutes with all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes + associated ex-assassins without any mental preparation. She gets in the elevator at 7:25, after 10 minutes of meditation, and heads for the 81st floor. She steps out into total chaos. No wonder, Natasha isn’t here yet and the two of them are the only ones capable of taming what cannot be tamed. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda is early, with plenty of time to spare. She doesn’t want to be punished for being late. So far, the Avengers haven’t punished her for anything, but she’s heard Captain Rogers scold team members before. She worries punishment for her will be worse because she didn’t start on the good side. If only Pietro was here. Wanda would give anything to have her brother by her side, but he’s gone and he’s not coming back. She watches, curled up in a corner, as the nine other inhabitants of the Tower slowly gather for dinner. 

This is Wanda’s first Mandatory Team Dinner and Movie Night, as the calendar on the fridge calls it, and she has no clue what it will entail. The last few weeks, she was still settling in. Natasha stayed with her once, the first week, but last week Wanda was alone. It was rather nice, being alone, but still strange. She’s used to scientists, doctors, agents, and Pietro. At least the A.I. in the ceiling was still there. He is rather nice to talk to. 

At 7:15, team members began to trickle in. Wanda watches the chaos from her corner, waiting for Natasha or Pepper to arrive, and quiet the man-children down. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clint loves Movie Night, but not so much the dinner part before. This week is his turn to cook, and he is lamenting not getting Katie-Kate to teach him her recipes the last time he was in Bed-Stuy. He debates calling Nat in to help, but she’s in the training room, and it’s never good to disturb Tasha while she's training. He decides on takeout from the pizza place down the street, with a salad he’ll make now. Add the brownies he bought this morning and two giant tubs of vanilla ice cream and Voíla! dinner is served. Steve’ll hate it, but who cares? At least it will be edible.

He knows Wanda is in the corner but chooses to leave her be. She’s only 16, after all, and probably needs some time to adjust to the mess that is Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He will make sure to check in with her after Movie Night to make sure she’s doing alright. 

Clint wraps up the salad at about 7:15 and goes downstairs to pick up the pizza. He comes back up five minutes later to see Steve and Bucky sitting in the living area bickering like an old married couple. Clint puts the pizza on the counter and sneaks into the vents. In retrospect, shooting a trained assassin with NERF arrows was not his best idea. Tony, Bruce, Sam, and Thor appear, and everything goes downhill from there.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve is the creator and the man directly responsible for Mandatory Team Dinner and Movie Night and he loves it. He was about to head to the 81st floor to make sure Clint didn’t just order takeout, but the view looked so pretty and he stopped for just a minute to draw it. A minute turned into 20 turned into an hour and Steve is rushing to get downstairs on time. He ran into Bucky waiting for the elevator. They made it down there at about 7:18. Clint wasn’t in the room, but Wanda was, curled up in a corner watching quietly. He and Bucky took a seat on the couch in the living area.

Steve doesn’t know how it started, but he and Bucky started bickering about his self-preservation skills, or lack thereof. Bucky was scolding him for all the times he jumped out of a plane with no parachute. Steve’s still mad Nat told him about that. That conversation led to talking about the Valkyrie, which is never a good subject. By the time Clint got to the floor with the pizza (really, Clint?) the two nonagenarians were standing up yelling at each other, and Wanda has pressed herself further into her corner but hasn't left yet. Clint decides the best way to diffuse the situation would be by shooting them with NERF arrows from the vents. Bucky responds to that by climbing into the vents and chasing Clint around while Steve yells for the both of them to “get the hell out of there right now you little shits. I mean it!” Wanda looks on, seemingly amused and worried at the same time. 

Then Tony and Bruce arrive, with Sam soon after. Tony joins Steve in yelling at the assassins in the vents, Sam goes to check on Wanda before starting to throw things at everyone else, and Bruce goes to make himself a cup of tea. By the time Pepper gets there, Clint is running around on the ground with Bucky after him, Steve after Bucky and Clint, with Sam and Tony chucking random objects at them. Thor is pretending to be confused and generally adding to the chaos by shouting “I do not understand! What did Clint do to Bucky? What is a NERF bow?” and similar things. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Natasha arrived, things began to calm down. Pepper has already subdued Tony, so Nat grabbed Clint. She points him in the direction of the kitchen and tells him to help Bruce set the table. Bucky and Steve grab their usual seats and sit down. Sam gets Wanda out of the corner and steers Thor and her towards the table as well. Pepper and Tony grab beverages and, finally, everyone is sitting down. 

Team dinners in the Tower doubled as a recap of the week and a planning session for the week ahead. This week, the first subject is Brock Rumlow. Rumlow has been spotted in various places around the globe, calling himself Crossbones, and even Natasha is having trouble finding a pattern to his attacks. It is decided that Hill will be contacted and the problem (hopefully) dealt with that way. That’s more of a SHIELD level threat anyway, right? The next topic was slightly more chaos-causing. Clint and Nat had been talking about this particular conversation for a while, but they both knew that with this group, nothing ever goes as planned. 

Clint approaches the subject as gently as he could. “So, there's something I’ve been meaning to tell you guys,” he says. 

Tony jumps on that and starts spinning tales. “You have a girlfriend? She’s pregnant? You’re quitting the Avengers? Your name isn’t really Clint Barton?” 

Clint just waits for Tony to finish before continuing. “No, none of that. The truth is, well, there’s this girl. No, wait, that sounds wrong. We’re not in a relationship or anything, that would be weird. Her name is Kate, Kate Bishop.” Pepper’s face lights up with recognition.

“Derek Bishop's daughter? She’s what, 19?”

Clint nods. “Yeah, that’s Katie-Kate. She’s kind of like my protegee, but also my best friend, my partner-in-stopping-crime, and the person who makes sure I’m alive when Nat’s not around. She’s been taking care of my building and my dog for the past year, while I’ve been living here, and she’s getting really, really annoyed at me. ”

Bruce speaks up, “Can we meet her? She sounds...interesting.” 

Clint makes a face and replies with, “See, Katie-Kate wants to come over and she’s threatening to, and I quote, ‘just show up and break in’ if I don’t let her in legally. Your security system is great and all, Tony, but nothing can match an angry Kate Bishop.”

Natasha basically cackles at that, causing Clint to glare at her and sign a variety of expletives her way. Steve just rolls his eyes and starts clearing the table, Bucky’s eyes on him every step of the way. 

Eventually, the Avengers get themselves together and start the movie. Tonight’s film: Frozen, a team favorite, even if certain people pretend to hate it. The team settles in for a long night of terrible off-key singing from everyone except Bucky and Nat. They have excellent voices but use them to loudly sing the songs in Russian. Clint and Wanda are wheezing by the time the movie is over. They’re the only other people who speak Russian, and the number of expletives and dirty words added into some of the songs...


	2. Everyone, This is Kate

Kate is supposed to arrive at 9 o’clock sharp the next morning. At five till Clint is nowhere to be found, but Natasha, Steve, and Bucky are awake. Nat is eating a quick breakfast while Steve and Bucky make pancakes. Those two...she’s not an idiot. There’s something there that wasn’t there before.

Anyway, everyone knows when Kate gets there. Tony forgot to warn his security staff she was coming, and they understandably panic at the appearance of a teenage girl with a mangy-looking dog and a lot of weapons stepping into the Tower lobby. Kate refuses to take the weapons off her person, and Happy is alerted. Happy alerts Tony, who ends up going down to the lobby in his suit and almost blasting Kate before Natasha wanders in to see what the fuss is all about. “Oh, hi Kate. Good to see you. Tony, this is Kate. Kate, Tony.” The suit collapses back into the housing unit and Tony looks suspiciously at Kate, who is ignoring him.

“Hi, Tasha. Where’s Clint?” Kate asks innocently. 

“Sleeping.”

“Of course he is. Not like he knew I would be here at 9 or anything,” Kate mutters, voice thick with sarcasm. Natasha laughs.

“He’ll be happy to see Lucky, anyway. I’m pretty sure there’s leftover pizza in the fridge on the 81st floor. You’re staying with me on the 92nd floor. My extra bedroom is a combination shooting range and ballet studio, so you get a cot in the living room.” With that, Natasha disappears, leaving Tony and Kate alone. 

“Can I go upstairs now? The dog wants pizza.”

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead kid. Get in the elevator and when JARVIS-that’s my AI-asks you which floor say 81.” Tony rolls his eyes and walks out of the building, probably heading for his favorite coffee shop across the street. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arriving on the 81st floor, Kate is greeted with bewildered stares from the two supersoldiers in the kitchen. Ignoring them, she goes straight to the fridge and pulls out some cold pizza for Lucky. Natasha appears on the floor as Lucky is gobbling down his last slice. 

“I doubt you’ve introduced yourselves, so Steve, Bucky, this is Kate Bishop. Kate, these two idiots are Steve and Bucky. By the way, Clint should come down soon. I think he might be angry, though, so don’t be too mean,” Natasha says. She then proceeds to sit down with a cup of coffee and make a phone call in a language Kate doesn’t know. 

Kate sees some stuff in the fridge that looks like it would belong to Clint, so she swipes that. She takes a seat next to “Bucky” and digs in. Captain America, or Steve, looks shocked. 

“Miss Bishop, I’m sure you aren’t aware of this, but that is Clint’s food. He is very protective of it,” Steve says. He has that look on his face people get when they are thinking about Clint.

“I do, actually, know this is Clint’s. If he has a problem with me eating it, I’ll take his dog and move to L.A. again,” Kate snipes back. Bucky starts laughing.

“I like this one, Nat. She can stay,” he says.

“First of all, Kate is not moving in permanently. Second of all, I appreciate your opinion, but as the second-newest resident around here it doesn't carry much weight, and third of all, it’s Wednesday so you have medical in 10 minutes,” Nat retorts. 

Bucky grumbles under his breath as he leaves the floor. Steve rolls his eyes at Natasha as he clears away breakfast dishes. “It’s nice to meet you, Kate. I hope you enjoy your time here. How long are you staying?”

Kate shrugs. “Two or three weeks.” Steve nods, and then he leaves too.

“Hey Nat, what’s the calendar on the fridge for?” Kate asks.

“Pepper, Tony’s girlfriend, decided we were all way too forgetful about appointments and such so she made a huge whiteboard schedule and we all got a marker color. Everyone wrote down everything they do weekly, and now it’s a one-stop-shop for all Tower resident’s schedules.”

Kate looks closer at the calendar. It was really cool looking, with all the different colors and handwritings. “If you decide to regularly drop by, we can add you,” Nat says. “You just have to come to Mandatory Team Dinner and Movie Night, and pick one or two days a week to come by and check-in. I’ll even let you add into my Thursday Night Fight Club with Clint, Bucky, and Wanda.”

Kate nods and writes her name in neat handwriting under Wanda’s. She decides she will drop by on Mondays to check-in, Thursdays for Fight Club, and Saturdays for Movie Night, and she wrote that in. Looking over the calendar, she finds a name she doesn’t know. 

"Who’s Wanda, anyway? I’ve heard of everyone else on here.”

“Wanda is a sixteen-year-old we rescued from HYDRA two weeks ago. She was experimented on, so she has powers. She lives with us because we don’t think SHIELD is the best place for a teenager.”

“Then why does the calendar say you are training her?” 

“She's enhanced, and the only way the government would let her stay here was if we trained her to be an Avenger. It’s dumb, we all pushed back against it, but in the end, we wanted her here. Cap says she’d be better off in the real world, where she can have a childhood, but with the shit she’s been through, this is the right place for her.”

Just as Kate is opening her mouth to reply, the elevator dings and the strobe light flashes. A very tired looking Clint drags himself and goes straight for the coffee pot, not acknowledging anyone else in the room. 

“Clint! Kate’s here!” Natasha calls. Clint continues to make coffee like a zombie. Natasha gets up and flashes the lights, which make Clint jump, grabbing a knife from the knife block, and turn around. 

“Oh, it’s just you,” he signs, fingers moving as sluggishly as the rest of him. “What do you want?”

“I said, Kate’s here,” Nat signed back. “She’s been here for half an hour now, Clinton.”

“Sorry, sorry. I overslept again,” Clint replied, looking scared. Nat rolls her eyes.

“I’m heading out to get Sam, Bruce, Bucky, and Wanda from the medical room. See you later Hawkeye and Hawkeye,” Nat says, signing and speaking at the same time.  
“So, Clint, it’s been a while since Lucky and I have seen you,” Kate says, face tight with anger. “Everyone in the building is worried, no matter what I say they don’t believe that the tracksuits didn’t get you!” Kate throws her hands in the air as she finishes her sentence. 

Clint takes a big gulp from the coffee pot and answers “I’ve been busy, Katie-Kate. There’s still a lot to do to eliminate HYDRA.” 

“Not good enough, Clint! I’ve seen Natasha at least 20 times since SHIELD fell last year! I haven’t seen you once since you told me to look after Lucky and the building while you were off being an Avenger! I thought maybe you were dead and Natasha just wasn’t telling me!” Kate’s anger falters as she signs the last sentence, and she starts crying. 

A very uncomfortable Clint pats Kate’s back. Even though she knows he can’t hear her, Kate sobs out “You’re my friend, Clint. No matter how big a dumbass you may be, you’re my friend. Even though I would never say that when you could hear me.”


	3. That is NOT a Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a busy day today so I didn't get a chance to post until now! Sorry!

Natasha sighs as she steps off the elevator on the 84th floor. She isn’t even really into the medical area yet, and she can already hear arguing. She also had no clue what’s going on with Kate and Clint. Knowing that the Hawkeyes hadn't really communicated in months, until Kate told Clint she was coming to the tower today no matter what, she imagines it is quite the emotional scene. 

Walking down the medbay hall, Natasha hears the arguing voices much clearer. When she was helping Bruce schedule medicals, she put Wanda, Sam, and Bucky together. Why? So that Sam could help Bruce with Bucky and Wanda. She was absolutely exhausted at the time, and obviously not thinking straight. Poor Bruce has to do weekly medicals for the Avengers, even though he isn’t an MD, because no one except Sam trusts doctors.

“Stop! Bucky, if you wouldn’t mind getting on the table as soon as Wanda puts it back on the ground, that would be great. Wanda, I know you’re bored but levitating tables is not the solution.” Bruce’s quiet voice is getting louder and angrier. Natasha decides to intercede before, well, Hulk.

“Hey everyone!” she says, poking her head in. “Are you almost done? Kate’s here, as Barnes knows, and I’d like her to meet Wanda.”

Bruce mutters something under his breath before shouting “No, Nat, we aren’t even close to done. Matter of fact, we haven’t even started yet. They’ve been down here for 10 minutes and all that has been accomplished is Sam getting hit in the head by a levitating table, which is going to make this take even longer!” He sits down and starts taking deep breaths. 

Natasha gestures to Wanda to put the table down and organizes the other two idiots. “Barnes, get on the goddamn table. Wanda, Sam sit down over here and do what Bruce tells you to do. Bruce, I’ll rearrange the schedule today. Promise.” 

Bruce nods, standing back up. “Sounds good, Nat. Okay, Bucky, let's get started. Has your shoulder been giving you any more trouble, or did we get that resolved?”

Natasha smiles as she sits down beside Sam. “Wanda, you know you aren’t supposed to lift anything over 20 pounds with your powers unless Bruce tells you to,” she says reproachfully. 

“I am sorry, Natasha. I was just so bored of bickering between Sam and Bucky.”

“We all get annoyed by that. However, hitting Sam in the head with an exam table isn’t the answer,” Nat answers. 

Bruce finishes with Bucky and calls Wanda over. Nat takes Wanda’s seat so she is between Sam and Bucky. 

About 30 minutes after Nat arrived, the whole group is in the elevator, headed down to the communal floor. The doors open to reveal a surprisingly neat, tidy, and somewhat normal scene. Kate, Steve, and Clint are playing MarioKart while Tony sits at the table working on a design and Thor makes poptarts.

“I have an announcement to make. Due to conflicts between certain team members, the medical schedule is being redone. At the moment, Tony, Clint and I are Mondays, Sam, Barnes, and Wanda are Wednesdays, and Steve and Thor have Fridays. Wanda is going to switch to Friday, Clint will switch to Wednesday, and Sam goes Mondays, so that means Sam, Tony, and I on Monday, Clint and Barnes on Wednesday, and Wanda, Thor, and Steve on Friday. Sound good?” 

The team agrees and everyone goes back to what they were doing. Wanda joins the next game of MarioKart, Bruce joins Tony, and Nat heads into the kitchen to get something to eat.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The next two weeks pass in a flash of MarioKart game, target practice, teasing, and friendly bets, but the time comes for Kate and Lucky to go back to Bed-Stuy. It’ll be weird not having Kate in the tower, over the past few weeks everyone had gotten very used to her presence, but she’ll be by three days a week, and she promised to bring Lucky over regularly.

The Tower inhabitants settle back into their usual routine, but Maria Hill calls about a mission just a few days after Kate leaves.

“Agent Romanoff, this is an emergency. Fury’s cat has been taken by AIM scientists, and we really need to get her back. No, I can’t tell you why, but that cat can be really dangerous. I know this mission sounds stupid but it’s really important.” Maria sounds really frantic, and Maria never sounds frantic, so Natasha knows this is an emergency.

“Alright, Agent Hill. I will assemble the team. Text me the coordinates?”

“Sounds good. Call me when the mission is complete.”

Natasha hangs up and has JARVIS set off the alarm. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Remind me where we are going again?” Sam is not happy about being ordered onto a quinjet and not given any idea where the hell they are going. All Natasha said was that Maria called and it was an emergency.

“We’re going to Idaho. Maria heard about an AIM base there, and she was going to have a SHIELD team raid it, but then she found out Fury’s cat’s being held there so she called us,” the spy called out from the cockpit. “We are about 30 minutes out, so everybody get ready.”

“AIM? But I thought Tony beat them?” Clint asks.

“Clinton Francis Barton, you should know better than most people on this jet that when an organization is beaten, it doesn't mean it’s gone. How long did we spend on the Red Room?” Natasha asks, irritated and really just done with the team.

“Red Room? What’s that?”

“Not right now, Tony. Everyone suited up?”

A chorus of yeses sounds from the back of the jet, so Natasha lands.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha and Clint enter first. Tony stays on the jet for a moment to loop the security cameras, and the spies get in with no problem. They slip down the halls, heading for the room where Goose is being kept. 

Outside, Steve and Sam wait just out of sight of the building. The plan is to get the cat out and then take down the base but rarely do things go according to plan. Tony flies down beside them, and they all wait silently. Suddenly, they hear Clint’s voice on coms.

“I don’t know what this thing is, but it sure as hell isn’t a cat!” 

Tony laughs before answering. “Nat, any comments?”

“On our way out now. BARTON GET THAT GODDAMN THIN-'' Nat's voice cuts out suddenly.

Steve and Sam exchange a worried look but they hear Nat again a split second later.  
“Sorry about that. Barton was shoving the cat in my face. By the way, she ate all the scientists, so we don’t need to worry about them anymore.” 

“She did what now?” Tony asks incredulously. “How is that even possible?” 

“I don’t know, but it is,” Nat says behind him. Tony and Sam jump a foot into the air and Nat snickers. “You can blow the base now, Tony. I’m waiting.”

Tony aims a missile at the small base and the Avengers watch it explode.


	4. I thought you were dead?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Agents of SHIELD join the crew! This is after AoS season 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been a while since the last update. I had exams, and then I was working winter day camp, and then it was Christmas. There will be another chapter this Wedensday.

Natasha limps the whole way back to the jet, and it’s not exactly a short flight back to New York, so Sam checks her leg on the way. It looks like a mildly sprained ankle, but knowing Nat it could be much worse and she’s just hiding it. Sam wraps her ankle and tells her Bruce would check her out when they got back. Their team really needs an actual MD. So far it’s been mostly mild injuries that Bruce and Sam can take care of, but that could change anytime. Maybe Clint and Nat know an ex-SHIELD doc looking for work? Sam makes a mental note to check in on that. 

The not-cat is in a cage in the back of the jet, but from what Clint told them it could escape at any time. Steve is on the phone with Fury, setting up a rendezvous. Sam listens to Steve’s end of the conversation for a little, but it isn’t particularly interesting so Sam turns to check on Cint and the cat. Clint is shaking cat treats at the cat from ten feet away. Sam has so many questions, mainly where the hell the cat treats came from, but he knows the answers will just confuse him further. He sighs and turns to look at the rest of the team. Natasha is asleep, Steve is still talking to Fury, and Tony is messing with something on his phone. Sam sighs again and grabs his own phone. He’s got to call to check-in back at the Tower with Thor, Bruce, Wanda, and Barnes. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

About an hour after their return home, the Avengers are summoned to the conference room to talk to Fury, Hill, and other high-level agents. When they arrive, they get quite a shock. Immediately upon entering the room, they see Agent Phil Coulson sitting at the head of the table. Natasha sees Steve stop dead in front of her and pushes past him to take her seat. She scans the room and sees one familiar face. 

“Agent May. Care to introduce us?”  
The woman in question gestures to a younger woman with brown hair who is messing with her phone “That’s Skye. She’s a hacker.” May points to the two people standing behind her, looking shy. “Over there we have Dr. Jemma Simmons and Dr. Leo Fitz,” she continues. “You already know our team leader, Agent Coulson.” 

“WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! THERE WAS A FUNERAL AND EVERYTHING! YOU MADE PEPPER CRY! PEPPER NEVER CRIES!” Tony yells, unable to keep it in.

Steve nods, glaring at Coulson. Natasha rolls her eyes. She’d dumped all of SHIELD’s files on the internet and they still hadn’t found out about Phil’s resurrection. Granted, it was little things, like May’s return to combat, LOLA leaving the garage, the recruitment of a previous enemy, and details like that which tipped her off, but if one looked at the data, it was pretty obvious. 

Natasha looks over the other agents. She knows and trusts May, but she has never before met these scientists, and the girl, Skye, must be the new recruit. Phil always had a habit of taking in strays, she thinks to herself. The scientist’s names sound vaguely familiar, but she can’t quite place them, which is annoying. Natasha tunes back into the conversation just to hear Tony introduce himself to the science kids. 

“Dr. Fitz, I’ve heard of you. Engineer, right? And your partner here, she’s biochem, correct? You two want to come up to the labs with me?” 

“Well, you’ve made Fitz’s year. What about me? I hacked your servers once, can I come too?” Skye asks. 

“You hacked my servers? Who are you?” Tony asks incredulously. Natasha rolls her eyes and moves towards Agent May. That doesn’t stop her from hearing the rest of the conversation, though.

“Skye. I was a hacker with Rising Tide until AC over there recruited me,” the girl responds. 

“RISING TIDE?” Tony sounds both angry and interested. “You’re coming too. I need to test your skills, and hopefully block my servers against similar attacks. Bruce, come on!”

The scientists all leave, and the more level-headed members of the team sit down to talk. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pepper is in an important meeting when her phone rings. She sees that Steve is calling, which never happens, and excuses herself. “Ms. Potts? We need you to come up to the conference room. I can’t really explain over the phone, but it’s urgent.”

Pepper tells Steve to give her five minutes and heads back into the meeting. “I’m sorry, everyone, but unfortunately there has been an emergency and I need to leave. The remainder of the meeting will be recorded and I will reach out to you as soon as possible. Thank you,” she says confidently, walks out of the room, and heads straight for the elevator.

Once she reaches the conference room, Pepper sees a face she never thought she’d see again. Phil Coulson is sitting at the table, and there’s a fierce-looking Asian woman standing behind him. Pepper wants to get upset, but her years as a woman executive and Tony’s girlfriend have taught her to stay calm. 

“Phil. It’s great to see that you aren’t dead. Would anybody care to explain to me why Phil isn’t dead, who this woman is, and where Tony and Bruce are?” she asks authoritatively.

“This is Agent May,” Fury answers. “She is a member of Coulson’s SHIELD team, along with three scientists who are in the lab with Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner. Coulson was... resurrected and it’s a long story for another time.”

Pepper takes a look around the room. Natasha is sitting at the table, looking more bored than anything else. Clint has his feet up on the table and is paying zero attention and Hill looks exhausted. Steve and Thor both look really upset, but Sam just looks confused. Fury looks...different. He has ditched the eyepatch and black leather in favor of sunglasses and a tattered red sweatshirt. 

“Well, Fury, it’s been great to catch up but could we maybe get to the actual subject of this meeting?” Natasha has taken her usual indifferent tone, face devoid of any emotion. 

“Thank you, Agent Romanoff. Coulson’s team has done great work for SHIELD, and I’d like to propose a merger with the Avengers,” Fury replies. The room erupts with shouts and protests. “Settle down, everyone. They would no longer be SHIELD agents. Of course, they would retain their titles and the agency would always have a place for them, but the arrangement would be similar to what SHIELD has with Romanoff and Barton. SHIELD can call on them if need be, but they aren’t directly under SHIELD’s command.”

Steve nods, clearly thinking it over. “Would you care to share your reasons for this merger, Director?”

“First of all, I’m not the director. At the moment, Coulson is and if you accept this offer then that title would go to Maria. The world thinks I’m dead, Cap, and I intend to keep it that way. The reason for this is to add more skills to your numbers. Phil is a great, steady, reliable leader, and the Avengers could use one of those. May has skill, and lots of it. She doesn’t take any nonsense and is a great pilot. As far as I’m aware, Romanoff and Barton are your only certified pilots and they bribed, cheated, and threatened their way to those certifications,” Fury says.

“Not true!” Clint yells out, “There was no cheating, it was all fair and square bribing and threatening.” Natasha nods her agreement, and Pepper wonders if she and Phil are the only sane people in this building. Maybe Sam, most of the time, and Agent May seems sane. 

Fury groans and continues his long-winded proposal. “Fitz and Simmons are extremely good at what they do. Simmons also has a lot of medical experience, especially weird illnesses or injuries and alien-caused diseases. Skye’s computer skills are almost on Stark’s level, and she’s training to be a field agent. That enough for you, Rogers?” 

“Sounds good, Fury. I’ll talk it over with the team, let you know. One question, if Hill is going to be the director, who is going to be our new liaison?” Steve answers.

“Agent 13, also known as Sharon Carter. She’s got a good relationship with everyone here who knows her, and she’s a trustworthy agent.” Fury stands as soon as he finishes speaking and heads out with Hill, leaving the remaining Avengers and members of Coulson’s team sitting alone in the conference room.


	5. Chapter 5

Things are really going great recently. The Bus team has moved into a guest floor Tony and Pepper had renovated for them. Each agent has their own bedroom and bathroom and there is a large shared living space. Everyone is happy, and there haven't been any world-ending events recently either. Personally, Thor thinks it is too good to be true. He also misses Jane and Darcy a lot. They are still in London, and while he visits as much as possible, things can be a bit crazy here.

Everyone who lives in the tower has gathered in the communal living room for the MarioKart Tournament Finals. It’s down to the last four contestants, Tony, Clint, May, and Natasha. Thor is really excited to see how this plays out. Clint v.s. Natasha is always interesting, as is Tony v.s. Nat, and May is really good at MarioKart. Thor got out in the first round. Some things take a little while to learn, but he did better than he ever has before. 

Tony is winning, but Nat isn’t far behind. Then, almost at the last second, Natasha fires a blue shell. Tony stops dead in his tracks and Natasha races across the finish line, with May following soon after. Clint has a broken wrist from falling down the stairs so he didn’t do as well as he usually does. Thor is impressed that Clint made it to the finals. He has heard that broken wrists are quite painful for Midgarians. 

After the MarioKart battle, they all settle in for Team Dinner and Movie Night. According to the chart on the wall, it is Natasha’s turn to cook, but Steve cooked instead. Hell hath no fury like Natasha forced to cook when she doesn’t want to. Steve’s cooking is improving, but Thor still doesn’t understand why he boils everything. It is Thor’s turn to cook next week, however, and he has Plans. It hasn’t been his turn in a while, and he got some Midgardian-friendly recipes from a friend of his the last time he visited Asgard. 

Everyone is there today, and Thor smiles as he looks around the table. There’s just one person missing. “Pepper, is there some way Jane and Darcy could move over here? I don’t get to see them much, and I feel it would be nice to have them here,” Thor says. 

“Of course, Thor!” Pepper answers. “Avenger-Associated People are always welcome here. I can have Clint and Nat go out to New Mexico tomorrow and invite them?”

Clint looks up from his food “Slow down a minute. What if I have something I want to do tomorrow?” Pepper fixes him with a glare and he backs down in under ten seconds. Thor definitely thinks he should introduce Lady Sif to this group. 

“We’d be happy to help, Thor. Right, Barton?” There is a barely disguised threat in Natasha’s voice. 

“Of course, Natasha. No problem at all, really.” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jemma is really excited about the new lab she gets to work with. The main lab is absolutely huge, with almost all the equipment any scientist could ever need, and the biohazard lab is perfectly equipped. It’s even got a quarantine room with a comfortable-looking bed! She and Fitz spent most of dinner talking about it until she heard Thor mention Jane Foster. 

Jemma has read a lot of Jane Foster’s work, especially after the tangles she and the team had with Asgardians, and she found it all very intriguing. Of course, astrophysics isn’t Jemma’s field, but with some research, she feels she grasps the basic ideas of Dr. Foster’s theory. In addition, Darcy Lewis’s papers on Asgardian politics are a very fun read. When Barton and Romanoff agree to go get the duo, Jemma’s face lights up. Fitz and Mr. Stark look excited as well.

“Anyone have a movie pick for tonight? If not, we’re going with a classic, and it’s on Cap’s catch-up list too! Any objections to Rocky?” Sam asks loudly.

Almost everyone yells out YES! as is standard procedure to movie choices, but Romanoff and Barnes had been talking in Russian so there is a DA! or two in there as well. The whole group moves over to the huge living area with the giant TV and settles in.

Of course, there are about ten minutes of actual movie watching before Barton gets up for snacks, Barnes and Romanoff start bickering in Russian, and Thor and Steve start asking questions. Jemma is most interested in Barnes and Romanoff. Over the past few weeks, she’s noticed an odd dynamic between them. Hill told the Bus team that Barnes had been with the Avengers since last November, so he and Romanoff had been around each other for a while. Almost every time they talk, it’s in Russian, and it’s either bickering or shouting. Just yesterday, Jemma was going to the labs to run a blood sample of Wanda’s when she heard the two of them shouting at each other in extremely angry Russian in a side hall. 

After Barton comes back with his snacks, Thor and Steve’s questions are answered, and the Barnes and Romanoff show is broken up, Jemma estimates 45 minutes to an hour of uninterrupted movie before the first person needs to go to the bathroom.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis arrive the very next morning. Kate, of course, is there. She originally said she would only be by 3 times a week, but she’s here after her classes almost every day. Sam knows Pepper is really thinking of putting in an apartment for her so she doesn’t have to use a guest room every time she stays over. Sam and Pepper have been talking about renovations. They don’t need to do many, but with the number of people living here these days, it makes sense to change some things up.

Dr. Foster storms onto the common floor, with Darcy Lewis close behind her. A sheepish looking CLint and a cackling Natasha follow. Sam stands up and heads for the bar. It may be 11 AM, but he needs a beer for this story. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?” Jane shouts. “BARTON TRIED TO TAKE MY STUFF-AGAIN-AND KIDNAP ME! THERE BETTER BE A GOOD EXPLANATION!” 

Sam notices Natasha has her favorite vodka in her hand and is still cackling. Darcy sits beside her and Nat pours her a glass. Kate gets one too. Sam is getting scared here. They do not need more than one person in this building with Natasha’s sense of humor. The Bus team comes onto the floor, and Jane starts yelling again.

“COULSON IS ALIVE? DOES NO ONE TELL ME ANYTHING ANYMORE?” Fitz and Simmons hover in the doorway, but the rest of the team sits down. Skye heads straight for the Vodka & Cackling section. Natasha is still going, but she’s moved into quieter laughter at this point. Darcy whispers something to Skye and Kate and they burst out laughing too. Sam sighs and moves towards Fitz and Simmons.

“You two know much about Jane Foster?” 

“Of course I do! We had to sort through debris from the alien spacecraft after the Convergence. I read some of her papers afterward. That was a very busy few days,” Jemma responds with a laugh. Sam really enjoys having the Bus people around. A solid number of them make good choices, and he appreciates that. Barnes comes into the room then and makes a beeline for Natasha. Sam groans. Barnes is a real piece of work, and he and Nat really need to just talk about whatever-the-hell it is that they’re always yelling about in Russian. It’s getting to be annoying. Of course, not quite as annoying as Barnes himself, but annoying nonetheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Fitz has some brain issues in Season 2, but my granddad has really similar memory issues and it's not something I want to write. I know he suffered extensive brain damage, and I will explore that, but the whole not-finding-the-right-words thing isn't going to be in this fanfic.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written way ahead, so if you want a bonus chapter on Sunday tell me in the comments!

Jane is really angry. Barton shows up to her lab with that redhead who has been all over the news, and just expects her to get in his truck? And then he fucking shoots her? Granted, he did shoot her with a tranquilizer, but coming to in the backseat of Clint Barton’s truck with Darcy barely holding in her laughter is NOT on Jane’s bucket list. Not even close. 

Turns out, the redhead’s name is Natasha and she finds Jane’s curse-filled rant against SHIELD and Barton hilarious. The drive from New Mexico was relatively short, due to crazy secret-agent drivers, and Natasha and Darcy really hit it off. There are apparently people named Kate and Skye here at the tower who she thinks Darcy will like. Jane has given up at this point. Phil Coulson is alive, Thor is living with the Avengers full time, and they want her to move in. 

“Fine, but Darcy stays as my assistant. No one else can do what she does,” Jane says. Darcy smiles and waves regally from her seat on the couch. 

“That sounds like a plan. I think we have reached just about maximum capacity here, so I’m going to start some living arrangement renovations. Jane, Thor, Darcy, would you three like to share a floor? There would be a large lab, living room, kitchen, and two or three bedrooms and bathrooms, depending on your preferences,” Pepper Potts states.

“Sounds cool!” Darcy exclaims. Thor nods his agreement, so Jane flashes a thumbs up as well.

“Perfect,” Pepper answers. “Nat, Sam, Clint and Kate, four separate, customizable, apartments on one floor with a range the archers can share? Kate, I know you don’t live here full-time but you’re here often enough, so why not.” 

Natasha signals her agreement, as do Clint and a younger-looking brunette woman sitting with Natasha. A man in the back of the room calls out his agreement as well. 

Pepper smiles and moves on “Steve, Wanda, Bruce, and Bucky, same thing except minus the range and conjoining apartments for Bucky and Steve?” 

More nods and one “Yes, ma’am” come from around the room. Jane notices Bruce Banner, Captain America, and that guy with the metal arm from DC for the first time. She supposes she’ll have to get used to celebrity sightings, living in Avengers Tower and all.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon after Jane and Darcy’s arrival, Natasha appears in Wanda’s apartment. Before Wanda can get a word out, Natasha says “We need to talk. You’ve been with us for about 5 weeks now, and we still haven’t talked about your future.” Wanda pales at this, thinking they’re going to kick her out. “Wanda, you’re only 16. You can stay here and be an Avenger, but you and I need to figure out a way for you to attend school. Would you prefer in-person, online, or homeschool?” Wanda looks slightly confused and surprised at this.

“I can go to real school? I haven’t been to school in years. What school would I go to?” she asked. Natasha smiles at her.

“There’s a school in Queens, Tony donates a bunch of money to them. I’m sure they’d be willing to take you on, without knowing who you really are, if that’s what you want,” Natasha answers.

Wanda nods enthusiastically “That sounds perfect! What do we have to do to get me enrolled? What’s the school’s name?” 

“The school is called Midtown School of Science and Technology. To get you enrolled, we need a cover story, and to call the school. I’ll take care of all that, you ask anyone but Thor to help you get up to speed on high school stuff. I never went to high school, or any real school at all, so I’m not much help here. Just remember everyone’s strengths. Don’t ask Tony about anything not math or science related, and don’t ask Clint about...anything, really.”

Wanda and Natasha share a hug, and Nat walks off to get the papers sorted.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony is a little worried about how many scientists are sharing the labs. Jane will eventually have a lab on her floor, but she’d still need to use resources down here frequently. There are four labs down here and 5 offices. There’s the main lab, with a little of everything. Fitz spends most of his time in there, as does Jemma. If Skye isn’t in the smaller computer lab or somewhere random around the Tower, she’s typically in a corner with her laptop as well. Bruce hangs out in there a lot, but he spends more time in the hazard lab, which is divided up. He can do radiation stuff in one area, Jemma can do biohazard stuff in another, and there’s a quarantine room in case things go wrong. Still, there’s not much space for so many geniuses and prodigies to rattle around.

Tony spends most of his time in his shop on the lab floor or the garage workspace. Sometimes he’s in his office, either on this floor or the SI executive floor, but very rarely and typically only when he has a meeting. Bruce has an office too, FitzSimmons share one, and Skye has 0 interest. Maybe Jane will want an office, Tony isn’t sure. She’s an odd one, Jane. He’s never quite sure what to think of her.

Tony is in his shop when Natasha comes in. She’s supposed to knock first, but he really doesn’t feel like getting the ‘I do whatever the hell I want, Stark, so shut up’ look right now so he doesn’t say anything. 

“This is a courtesy drop-by to let you know I will be pretending to be your assistant to call Midtown School and enroll Wanda. Any issues can be taken up with the Team Captain. I think he’s in his office,” Natasha says cheekily. 

Tony really doesn’t care at this point. Nat obviously has a cover story, so she can do whatever she wants. “Go ahead. You would do it anyway.” Natasha flashes her trademark smirk and basically flounces out of his shop, probably heading for the phone in the shop to add a chaotic-office vibe to her phone call. Hopefully, no one will hear the actual conversations. He’s pretty sure Jemma is analyzing Thor’s DNA (with his permission) today. Any results of that conversation aren’t something a PA would be close to, even here. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hello? May I speak to the principal, please? I’m calling on behalf of Tony Stark. Yes, I’ll hold.” Natasha rolls her eyes and makes a face at Jemma. The younger woman giggles a little and turns back to her work. Natasha has chosen a specific part of the lab where all the chatter will be audible, but the words unintelligible. Luckily for her, all the scientists but Tony are in the lab right now, plus Thor. Thor is under strict instructions only to whisper. She does not need his booming voice to be a conversation starter. 

“Miss? May I ask your name?” The voice at the end of the line sounds young. Natasha goes back to her phone call, still watching the activity in the lab. 

“I’m Nora Riley,” Natasha answers in an impeccable Boston accent. “May I speak to the principal now? I’ve got a very busy day today.” 

“Of course, Ms. Riley. I will transfer you through straight away.”

Natasha hears a man's voice next “Ms. Riley, this is principal Morita. How can I help you?” Natasha smirks and prepares to weave a web of lies so thick even a Howling Commando legacy would fall for it. Of course, it helps that she’s sprinkling a little bit of truth in and allegedly has connections with a major donor. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Natasha hangs up the phone, Skye sees her walk out, heading for the elevator. Before Skye could turn back to the analysis of Thor’s blood, Coulson bursts in. “I’ve tracked Raina and a HYDRA artifact to San Juan. FitzSimmons, Skye, suit up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter marks the beginning of the AoS spoiler-filled part of this story. There are spoilers for the first two seasons coming up, so if you haven't seen AoS, go to Netflix, watch the first two seasons, and come back. 
> 
> For those who have seen Season 2: Skye will get her powers. Things are going to progress very differently than they do in canon, but some season 2 characters will appear!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a bonus chapter!

Darcy is starting to get worried. The Bus team has been gone for three days now, and they haven’t heard a thing. All Coulson told anyone was that it’s a mission for his team, and they’d be back soon. He also name-dropped other agents they will be working with but Darcy didn’t recognize any names. Natasha and Clint seemed to, though. Speaking of Natasha, it’s Thursday. Thursday means Fight Club. Darcy is the least experienced person there, but Nat is always happy to help her out. 

The time for Fight Club rolls around and Darcy heads down to Training Room 1 on the 83rd floor. Natasha and Barnes are already there, and already sniping at each other (with words) in Russian. They stop when Darcy comes in. She’s only been here three weeks and she already knows those two are stupid feuding idiots.

Fight Club takes Darcy’s mood off her troubles, but she’s watching Nat and Kate go at it when her phone rings. Caller ID shows that it’s Jemma, so she picks up. “Jemma? Are you OK?” 

“Oh, Darcy, we’ve got a problem. We are all on our way back, but Quinjets don’t have quarantine rooms and we need a way to quarantine someone to get from the hangar to the Tower. Any ideas?”

Darcy has so many questions but prioritizes Jemma’s problem. “Nat, Bucky, can you think of any way to quarantine someone to get them from the hangar to here?”

Bucky looks up from his phone. “Isn’t there a mobile pod in the storage area? That could be loaded onto a Quinjet, right?”

Natasha calls time with Kate and comes over. “That should work. Why?” 

Darcy flaps her hand back and forth and picks up the phone. “There’s a mobile quarantine pod here. I’ll have someone fly it out to you ASAP. See you soon, Jemma.” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clint is put in charge of flying the quarantine pod out to the hangar. The Avengers hangar lives below an abandoned SI warehouse right across the river in New Jersey. He runs up the landing pad on the 81st floor and jumps in the quinjet. Bucky, Steve, and Thor have already loaded the unit into the plane so he takes off. He makes it to the hangar in under 3 minutes. The bay doors open up, and he lowers the plane into the hangar. 

The unit is rolled out of the quinjet, and into the Bus. A few minutes later, the pod comes back, with Skye in it. She doesn’t look good, and Clint has a lot of questions, but she’s been loaded onto the jet. The team clambers aboard after, and a familiar face joins him in the cockpit. 

“Bobbi Morse. What a surprise,” he says dryly.

“Good to see you too, Clint. Before you ask, I’m not staying long, but Maria can’t get us back to headquarters for about a week. Coulon offered me and some other agents to board over at Avengers Tower.” 

Clint grumbles a little. He and Bobbi dated for a while, back when they were younger and dumber. They’re very different people. “I thought I heard Hunter’s annoying voice. Is he here?”  
Bobbi rolls her eyes. “Yes, he is. And yes, we’re together again. I don’t know if you know them but agents Mackenzie and Triplett are here too.” 

Clint nods. “I’ve heard of Triplett. His SO was the same as the psychopath in the Tower basement, right?” 

“If by psychopath in the basement you mean Grant Ward, then yes,” Bobbi answers. “Trip’s a good guy, though. Nothing like Ward.”

Clint nods again. At this point he’s landing the plane at the Tower, where supersoldiers and a god are standing by to get the pod down to the quarantine room. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye looks absolutely terrified. Pepper supposes she would be too if she was exposed to alien artifacts in an underground alien city. Other agents apparently cleared quarantine early this morning, before the Tower was called, but Skye was at the epicenter of whatever the hell happened and is still quarantined. Jemma checks on her frequently, and Bruce has been working in the adjacent lab most of the evening to keep her company, but it still looks rather lonely there. 

Pepper watches as one of the visiting agents, Agent Morse, comes in. She exchanges a few words with Skye and sends a bag into the quarantine room. Pepper likes her. She seems fun, but at the same time knows when to be serious. Rather like Skye herself, actually. 

Pepper is still standing there, deep in thought, when she notices an object in Skye’s room shaking. Skye looks panicked and grabs the object. Pepper wonders what on Earth that was about, but her attention is quickly drawn to the main lab behind her, where everyone is huddled around a computer. She hears snippets of the conversation, ‘similar energy to the Bifrost,’ ‘could it be Asgardian?’ Maybe a different alien?’ but still doesn't know what's going on. 

After walking into the lab, Pepper finds no new answers. Apparently, there was an energy surge in Utah and something entered the atmosphere. Similar energy signature to the Bifrost, but not quite the same, according to Jane. Pepper leaves the scientists to their work and goes to find Darcy. Skye needs a friend right now, and Darcy is currently the best available candidate. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda wakes up the next morning at 8 and heads for the conference room, grabbing a quick snack on the way. After what happened yesterday, today’s Daily (but not on weekends) Briefing is sure to be interesting.


	8. Chapter 8

“Hello, everyone.” Steve’s got two weird-shit missions for the team today. Woohoo. “As we probably all know at this point an 0-8-4 entered the atmosphere late last night. It came down in Utah, and we need a team to go check that out. Barton, Romanoff, and Thor, will you go? Jemma, I want you on comms.” The team nods and Steve checks that off.

“Great. In other news, Skye cleared quarantine about an hour ago! She isn’t with us right now but we’ll get her back in the field in no time. Bruce, will you debrief her after this meeting?” Bruce agrees and Steve continues. “Perfect. Agents Morse, Triplett, and Mackenzie are staying with us for about a week, as is Mr. Hunter here. Be nice, assholes.” There are general sounds of agreement (and some outrage) so Steve charges onwards.

“Okay. There are also these videos from Portugal.” Steve plays the video of what looks like a powered woman beating up teens, and then another video of the same woman fighting an enhanced male. “Police have the woman in custody. Coulson, May, Fitz, will you go over there? Morse, Mackenzie I’d love to have your help with this one as well. Take Skye, too. A big team mission will be good for her.” 

Coulson stares at the screen for a moment before replying “That’s Lady Sif. Of course I’ll go, that kind of unprovoked violence against teenagers is unlike her.” Thor looks up, startled. 

“That is indeed Lady Sif. Maybe I should go on this mission instead, Captain?”

Steve shakes his head. “No, I want you on the other one. Lady Sif is a known entity, and Coulson, May, and Fitz have worked with her in the past. You have the most knowledge of other realms, so I want you on hand in case you have encountered what the hell came to Earth last night before.” 

“When do we leave?” Morse calls out. 

“The Portugal team has 45 minutes, Coulson is team lead. The Utah team has one hour, Romanoff is lead. Coulson, Romanoff, I’ve sent you all the info I have on each mission. Jemma, I want you somewhere quiet to consult for the Utah team. Romanoff, alert her when you arrive so she doesn’t have to sit around and wait. Maximoff, Stark, I want to talk to you. Everyone else is free to go.”

After the rest of the team clears out, Steve turns to Wanda and Tony. “I heard from Nat that Wanda was enrolled at a high school, and as everyone else involved in prepping for a mission I wanted to talk to you two. Let the record show I think this is a fantastic idea. Tony, what info do you have about this?”

“Only what school. It’ll be fine, Cap. Nat’s in charge, she’ll make sure Wanda has a good cover and the skills to pull it off.”

Steve nods and Tony leaves. He grins at Wanda. “You excited? I always hated school. Got beat up too much, I guess. Never went to high school, though. Maybe they liked small asthmatics with big mouths there.” The girl laughs and Steve inwardly screams ‘Yes!’ Wanda is very drawn inwards, which makes sense as she lost her twin two months ago, so Steve and Sam are trying to get her laughing and smiling. Hopefully, she’ll also start feeling more comfortable around the team. She and Darcy have quite the friendship. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha climbs into the quinjet's cockpit next to Clint. Thor’s sitting in the back and Jemma is waiting back at the tower. Clint takes off and points the plane towards Utah. 

The plane lands two long hours later. Clint WOULD NOT shut up, and Thor found the whole thing hilarious. Upon landing in Utah, they find a relatively normal scene. It’s a pretty deserted area, and the scanners on the jet aren’t picking up any life forms nearby...except for one (and the plants, but they don’t count). That one life form is also emitting energy identical to the surge that brought them out West in the first place. Turns out their 0-8-4 isn’t an object, after all, it’s alive and more animal-like than plant-like. Natasha and Clint grab their weapons and the team heads out towards the life form.

Natasha is a little worried about what she’s going to find. Her life has gotten steadily weirder and weirder since 2012. Her job used to be taking down human trafficking rings, corrupt politicians and drug lords, spying on foreign governments, and occasionally babysitting assets. Before SHIELD, she took down governments, interfered with elections, killed, kidnapped, and threatened. Now, she doesn’t know what to expect. This could be anything. 

They come upon the life form after about 45 minutes of hiking. Thor is behind, due to his lack of stealth skills, and the spies look out from a good cover of trees and underbrush. They have a clear view of a very human figure looking out over the desert. It turns, and Natasha immediately decides that this is either an augmented human or Star Wars was correct and there are humans in distant galaxies. The “0-8-4” is a woman with middle length blonde hair and a red, blue, and gold suit with a star of some sort on it. She looks incredibly familiar. 

“Clint, where do I know her from?” Natasha whispers.

“Picture on Fury’s desk, I think,” Clint says. 

Thor gasps over comms. “I know of her. Her call sign is Captain Marvel. She is sort of like an Avenger, except she protects the whole galaxy.”

“So she’s a potential ally?” Natasha asks. 

“Yes. Sif has worked with her before, perhaps their almost simultaneous arrivals aren’t merely an annoying coincidence after all?” Thor adds. 

“Interesting theory. I’m going to approach,” Natasha replies.

“Captain Marvel? I’m Agent Romanoff with SHIELD. We just have a few questions,” Natasha says.

“You’re with SHIELD? Do you know Fury?” the woman asks.

“Yes. May I ask why you are here?”

“It’s been about twenty Earth years since I’ve been here and I wanted to stop by, visit some old friends, Fury included.” 

“Captain Marvel, it is a pleasure to meet you. Lady Sif has told me many great things about you.” Thor has apparently decided not to hide any longer. 

“An Asgardian? On Earth? How odd.”

“That’s Thor. He lives here at the moment. Do you have a name?” Clint has come out of the undergrowth as well. Natasha groans. 

“Danvers. Carol Danvers. Do you have a name?” 

“That’s Barton. He’s a dumbass.”

Carol slowly nods her head. “Nice to meet you, Barton. I’m also commonly classified as a dumbass.” 

Natasha rolls her eyes and calls Jemma and Steve, telling them all is clear. Carol agrees to come back to the Tower so everyone climbs back in the quinjet and away we go! Hopefully, the Portugal team had similar luck.


	9. Emergency Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this chapter is in Darcy's POV and it was so fun to write someone who's not a superhero or a scientific genius but is still in the middle of the Avengers' world.

The Portugal team doesn’t return until the next day. After retrieving Lady Sif and capturing another alien, they had retreated to an old SHIELD base called the Playground (Location: Classified) to interrogate the alien and find out what the hell is going on. When they return, they are shaken. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s been a crazy day. Darcy isn’t sure what she expected when she agreed to come to live here, but this isn’t it. She thought her official role would be Jane’s Lab Assistant, but it turns out she's a member of the Avengers' support staff along with the scientists and Kate, so she gets dragged into EVERY meeting. Seriously. Team Meetings are at 8:30 in the morning because the team leader is an asshole who thinks everyone gets up at 5 like he does. 

She really likes the new girl, Carol. Carol is very confident and sassy. Steve has left a message with Director Hill to contact Fury, so Carol probably won’t be around much longer, but Darcy is having a lot of fun with her while she’s still in town. The two of them are in the training area right now, and Carol is showing off her powers. She's really cool. 

Everything starts to go downhill when the Portugal team returns, though. 

The two of them are notified by Jarvis that the team has returned and they need to head up to the conference room. When they arrive, they find the whole team already there. Kate and Skye are the only ones missing, but Darcy is sure Kate is on her way if this meeting is as important as it looks. Anyway, she’s not officially on the team, right? Skye, though, she’s always at meetings. 

Steve is standing at the front of the room with his this-is-serious face on. He only uses that face if he’s conveying false innocence or if something bad happens. Darcy sits down and shuts up.

“As you all know, the team sent to Portugal has returned, and Lady Sif is with them. Anyone who wants the full details of the mission can ask May for a copy of the mission report AFTER this meeting,” Steve begins. “You are all here because we have something we need to discuss. You all remember the SanJuan mission that Coulson, May, Skye, Simmons, and Fitz went on. It turns out that Skye was exposed to some sort of alien mist from an artifact down there that gave her powers.”

The room erupts. Pepper lets out a loud, high whistle and everyone focuses on Steve. 

“Thanks, Pepper. As I was saying, Skye now has powers. The Portugal team found out from an alien, the individual Sif was fighting in that video, how the mist works. It was created by his people, the Kree.” Darcy sees Carol’s face turn white, though only for a millisecond. “The object containing the mist has since been destroyed, and the Kree has returned to his homeworld. However, both Sif and the Kree agree that those exposed to this mist are extremely dangerous. We now decide what to do. There are three options. One, we keep Skye here and teach her to control her powers. Two, we send her away to a SHIELD retreat until we figure out a better plan. There’s a shortlist of uncompromised ones. Three, Sif takes her to Asgard and trains her there,” Steve says. 

The room erupts yet again. Wanda raises her hand and they all slowly quiet down. “I think we should keep her here,” the girl says quietly. “At the retreat or on Asgard, she will feel like a prisoner. Here, it feels more like a family.” Red magic flickers around Wanda’s fingers as she speaks. Darcy has never seen the girl’s powers before and the magic is mesmerizing.

Steve grins. “Thanks, Wanda. I agree. Now, I think we should put this to a vote. All those in favor of Skye staying here?” Everyone raised their hands. 

“Well, that settles it. Anyone with knowledge about powers is invited to the other conference room immediately after this meeting to discuss training with Skye. Jemma, Sam, I’d like you there too.”

The aforementioned parties nod at Steve. Then, Natasha raises a hand. Darcy has said nothing since the meeting began and she’s hoping it ends soon, but it looks like there’s more to come. Great. “Now that we’ve had that talk, I want to start a conversation about the leader of the Avengers,” the spy states calmly. She moves to the front of the room and Steve takes her seat.

“Steve has done a great job so far but he doesn’t like being our boss. Look, I know almost all of you grew up with all the Captain-America-is-amazing-and-virtuous crap. He’s not. He’s an asshole, just like almost everyone else in this room. Myself excluded, of course.” Clint looks like he’s about to comment but Natasha gives him the Murder Stare so he declines to make it. 

“I think we should have an election. We vote on who we think should lead us. We cast our ballots in two weeks on August first! Does anyone want to run, or does anyone have a nomination?”

Darcy shoots her hand up into the air. “I nominate Coulson!” Most everyone in the room agrees with her. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she sees an ASL conversation between Bucky and Clint, shielded from Natasha’s view by Steve. This can’t end well.

Clint jumps up on the table and shouts “I nominate Natasha Romanoff!” Before Darcy knows what is happening, Natasha has chucked a knife at Clint, who catches it and throws it back. Wanda grabs the knife out of the air and returns it to Natasha, who has moved past Murder Stare to Murder Stance. Darcy’s only been here like five days but even she can tell what’s going on.  
Coulson steps in and there is less suggested murder in Natasha’s body language, but she still looks spitting mad. Pepper concludes the meeting. “Thank you. If those running for Team Leader would put up posters around the tower so everyone knows who’s running, that would be great. And if you DO NOT want to win, but think you might anyway, maybe put up posters saying that too. This is also a friendly reminder that we are in a Stark Industries building. As CEO, I have authority here, and the murder of fellow residents is against the rules. If severe injury could be avoided, that would be nice too.” And with that, the Emergency Meeting is over.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clint knows this is a stupid idea, but he’s going to do it anyway. He hasn’t made Natasha that mad in ages, and he’s going to do it again. Eventually, she'll laugh, and she needs a good laugh right about now. He just has to time this right. She’s preparing for an interrogation of a highly trained prisoner who is refusing to talk to anyone but Skye. Clint hasn’t seen her this interested in any of her clientele recently. He grins, remembering the argument Coulson, and Natasha and he used to have about what word to use for a person being interrogated. Nat always calls them her clients, but Coulson prefers suspects or subjects. Clint doesn’t really have an opinion. Coulson’s way is more professional, but Nat’s sarcastic tone really makes the phrase. 

Natasha has been pouring over Ward’s files, developing a game plan. She’s talked to the Bus team too. He’s used to getting what he wants and not being harmed, but that’ll soon end. When Clint and Nat had moved into the Tower, they made it clear that if one of them had a prisoner in the basement, no one was to interfere with said prisoner. Tony has a great security staff who know about the arrangement and there are state-of-the-art facilities. The security chief for the cells knows to take direction from the correct person, not just follow Tony’s orders. 

Natasha has had Ward fed three times a day. He hasn’t seen a soul in the time he’s been here, except for the (street-clothed) man who brings him food. She plans to begin her interrogation in two days, and she’s pretty stressed.

In retrospect, maybe standing on a table and yelling while she was talking wasn’t a good idea at all. It wasn’t even a mediocre idea. 

(He’s still going ahead with his plan to put up Natasha for Team Leader! posters anyway, though.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Inauguration Day to my fellow Americans! So happy Trump is gone. Of course, my one class that wasn't canceled is at noon. 
> 
> There will be a bonus chapter this Sunday! The inauguration has put me in a great mood and I've got like 5 extra chapters written.


	10. Chapter 10

It’s time. Natasha is confident in her plan and confident in her skill. She’s going to begin interrogating Ward today, and she thinks it will go well. Coulson, May, Clint, and Steve will watch on monitors. No one else is permitted to. 

She walks down the stairs to the cell area. Each cell is a reinforced room with an area partitioned off by an electric fence sort of thing that can also be soundproof and opaque. She doesn’t understand the science, but she sure as hell knows how to use it. Keeping a prisoner in a room where they hear or see nothing but themselves? Easy way to break them. 

Natasha is greeted by the chief of the cell area security team. “Morning, Natasha. How are you?”

“I’m great, thanks. How are you and the family?” 

“We’re doing just fine. Are you here to see Ward?”

“I am. See you later, Jim.”

He waves, and she heads into the cell. 

Walking in she’s greeted by a white wall. She presses a button on her tablet and the wall becomes transparent. Ward turns to look at her. 

“I will only talk to one person, and whoever you are, you don’t have her.”

Natasha smiles, glad she decided to stay in the shadows and not wear a tac suit. (At least not visibly.) 

“Skye, right? You will only talk to Skye. Well, she isn’t here,” Natasha says, stepping into the light. The expression on his face when he recognizes her is priceless.

“You’re the Black Widow. But you’re an Avenger now, you don’t work for SHIELD.”

“Who I work for is none of your concern. You’ve been under my jurisdiction since you moved here. Now, I know you say you will only talk to Skye, but I won’t have that sort of emotional manipulation. I make the rules here, not you. Am I clear, Mr. Ward?” Natasha asks. 

“I stick by what I said. You won’t torture me, you were true SHIELD. You were at the top of HYDRA’s take-down list.”

Natasha laughs coldly. “You seem to be misinformed as to my skill set and my morals, Mr. Ward. You see, I am KGB trained. I don’t get much of a chance to keep certain skills fresh, and no one cares what happens to you.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve turns to Coulson, a little disturbed. “Will she use KGB methods on him? If that's anything like what HYDRA did to men back in the ‘40s, well, I can’t condone that. Even for him.”

“No, she won’t. She likes to scare them before she begins asking questions. Makes them much more likely to answer her. This case, especially, because he’s been refusing to talk to anyone. She used to do some god awful things, before SHIELD, but she doesn't do that anymore. Don’t worry, Steve. She’ll come out of that room the same Natasha as always. The whole ‘KGB agent who's not afraid to torture you’ thing is only an act. Most of the time,” Clint answers.

Steve nods and they go back to watching Natasha work.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, Mr. Ward, what choice will you make?” she asks, voice sounding more bored than anything else.

“I only talk to Skye.”

Natasha gives him a cold smile. “Well, we will see what you say in a few days. I will see you again soon, Mr. Ward.” With that, she closes him off in the opaque, soundproof box and leaves the cell. 

It was a quick interrogation, but she got what she needed. He’s not afraid of her, because he doesn’t believe she can break him. Well, that just can’t go on. Natasha waves at Jim on her way out and heads straight for Coulson’s office, where those permitted to watch are waiting. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well? Anyone have thoughts they’d like to share?” Natasha asks upon arrival in the office.

“Just one,” May replies. “What info do you want from him? He’s a specialist, Romanoff, you have to ask specific questions.” 

“I know that, May. I want to know what he knows about Wanda, Barnes, and Skye. It’s been hinted that he knows about Skye’s origins. That could be insanely helpful considering recent events.” 

May nods and Coulson looks over at Nat. “My question is unrelated yet important. We were told at a base we stayed at for a bit that there was a lie detector there designed to beat you. Did it?”

“Of course not. I beat it big-time,” Natasha replies with a laugh. Steve’s glad to see that she’s laughing her usual laugh instead of that cold-hearted one she used in Ward’s cell. Coulson’s right, she does just put on a mask.

“Now, Coulson, you have election posters to put up and I have posters to tear down thanks to one Agent Barton over there, and one Sergeant Barnes.” 

Steve glances up at that. Bucky always used to do that, Peggy would tease him about it. Whenever Bucky was really mad at Steve, he would call him Captain Rogers. The Commandos found it hilarious. 

Steve wishes Natasha could’ve met Peggy the way she was in her prime. The two spies had exchanged a few words now and again before Peggy passed last October, but typically nothing much. 

Natasha glares at Clint one last time before gliding out of the room. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda finds the Vote Natasha! posters hilarious. She, of course, knows it is the work of Clint and Bucky and Natasha is very angry, but it’s still funny. She walks down the hall from the elevator to Jemma and Fitz’s office, passing two Natasha posters, one Coulson poster, and one please-don’t-vote-for-me poster for Steve. 

When she arrives at the office, the other woman is already inside waiting for her. If Wanda is going to go to school, she needs certain vaccines. HYDRA never bothered to vaccinate patients, and the medical records from her childhood aren’t available, so Jemma ran some blood tests to see if she was immune to certain diseases. Some vaccines she will need to get anyway, but some she may be able to skip. 

“Hi, Wanda! Good news, there is lab evidence of immunity for a number of these conditions. I’ve signed the form and I‘ll send it in tomorrow,” Jemma says with a smile. 

“OK! When can we do the other shots?” Wanda asks.

“I called Sharon this morning and she’s put in a request. We should have them in a few days,” the scientist replies. “I’ll see you for medical check-in Friday, so we can do them then?”

“Sounds good. See you then, Jemma.”

“Bye, Wanda.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With that, Jemma gathers up some papers and heads for the lab area. She is also running some tests on Skye’s blood right now and she needs to check in on that. Poor Skye. She’s in one of the cells downstairs at the moment. They are vibranium reinforced (bought vibranium, not stolen) and she has minimal impact on the building from down there, but she’s still terrified out of her mind.

She set off a really bad quake in her sleep last night. Surrounding buildings were trembling a little, and the Tower was shaking. Luckily, Tony built it to withstand anything. She’d had some sort of nightmare, but the worst part was that using her powers at that level had broken her arms. Jemma had scanned them and there were hairline fractures up and down both arms. Skye’s arms were now covered in bruises, swollen, and hurt a lot. 

Jemma had splinted them to prevent further damage, and she is talking to Wanda about how she had gotten her powers under control. Developing powers with HYDRA, however, leads to some pretty rough treatment. Wanda was beaten if she lost control so she learned complete control very quickly. 

Then, Jemma has an idea. Carol has powers, right? She’s from space, maybe she knows something about Skye’s people or the Kree. She makes a mental note to talk to Carol as soon as she can.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that I forgot to credit Gloria Gaynor. The title of this work is from her amazing song "I Will Survive." Give it a listen!

Carol likes this place. The people are nice, the food is good, and there’s never a dull moment. She’s been here three days now. In that time, it was discovered that one of their teammates has powers, there’s some kind of school registration process going on for someone, the girl with powers, Skye, had set off a really bad earthquake in her sleep, and yesterday Agent Romanoff interrogated someone important to some people in the building. Romanoff is one of Carol’s favorite people here. She’s capable, and she gets it done. 

It’s like that week she spent with Fury in the ‘90s. Crazy. Speaking of Fury, there has still been no communication from him. Captain America (who is apparently alive now) told her he left a message with the director of SHIELD but still hasn’t heard back. Carol has decided to spend the time she has here establishing a good relationship with this team of heroes who are named after her. 

Having a team on Earth who she can coordinate with if necessary could come in handy. She really should reach out to Maria, though. It’s been 20 years since she’s seen them and Monica is probably all grown up now. She resolves to go visit tomorrow. Hopefully, they haven’t moved.

It’s nice to have someone else here who understands the gravity of Skye’s situation, though. Sif is a great ally, Carol has fought with her many times, and she too knows about the history of people like Skye. Carol remembers reading about the berserkers on Halla, and Sif knows a great deal about other realms. 

The young scientist, Jemma, seems worried about Skye too. Carol makes a mental note to ask her what kind of data she has. 

Skye has to learn control. It’s the only way for this building to remain standing. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye is terrified. She can barely control her new powers and the more upset she gets the more things shake. Wanda has come to visit multiple times and she’s been a big help, but she has to get ready for school so she can’t be here too often. Skye has been here since the 18th, so that’s three days now. She knows Natasha interrogated Ward yesterday, and she hopes he talks. It’s hard, going down there and talking to him. It brings back memories she wishes she doesn’t have. 

Skye’s cell, unlike Ward’s, has no electricity separating it in two. She has free roam of the room and could leave if she wanted to. Obviously, she won’t, because that would be dangerous. That’s what she is now. A danger to society. A menace, a monster, and a risk. Maybe she should leave. Go to Asgard with Sif, control her powers, and stay far away from anyone she can hurt. If all Asgardians are as hardy as Sif, she won’t need to worry about hurting them. 

No, she has to stay here. She would miss the team too much, and they would feel like they failed her. She’s got to work harder at control. Skye vows to have her powers under control in 5 months. Wanda said it took her 3, but the circumstances are more humane here so things will go a bit slower. 

Just as Skye finishes promising that to herself, the door opens. Carol walks in, with Sif right behind her. They’re smiling, so they (probably) won’t kill her, but Skye is still a little worried. 

“Hello, Skye,” Carol states calmly. “We know about your people and want to help you learn to control your abilities. I, too, have powers given by the Kree. Mine have a source more similar to Wanda, but I know a good bit about the Kree and berserkers.” 

Skye nods. Learning control from two powerful heroes? That sounds like a plan. “That would be amazing. I don’t want to hurt anybody, though. How do we do this?”

Sif smiles at her. “There is a deserted place in what you call Greenland now. I have often used it to train myself, and Thor practiced there as a boy. Carol assures me the place remains empty for miles and miles.”

Carol grins. “Yes, and that’s important, but what do you call Greenland? That’s what I want to know.”

“Grfnland. It’s the Icelandic name given to the place when the first settlers arrived.”

Skye laughs at Carol’s face. The two women turn back to her. 

“So, we would borrow one of these Quinjets, Carol can fly, and we could leave for Greenland right now,” Sif suggests.

“That sounds perfect. JARVIS, can you tell everyone? Please wait until we’ve left and discourage them from following,” Skye replies.

“Of course, Agent Skye.”

The three women smile at each other and head for the landing pad.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maria is exhausted. She thought she was prepared to lead SHIELD, but evidently she is not. Everything is so overwhelming. Her agents are getting picked off by what little remains of HYDRA after Strucker and List’s deaths, the government is after her, and the Avengers are a pain in the ass, as always. 

There are reports today of multiple avalanches in a remote part of Greenland, north of the Arctic Circle. No one was nearby, and there was no property damage, so Maria isn’t sure why this memo has crossed her desk. She skims through and finds that a “futuristic jet” was seen in the area before and after the avalanches. She sighs and dials Nat.

“Romanoff.”

“Hey, Nat. You wouldn’t know anything about avalanches in Greenland, would you?”

“That was just Skye. Did you not get the report on her powers?” Natasha’s tone is light, but Maria is confused. Skye has powers?

“I did not. Whose job was that, precisely? I have the phone numbers for almost all of your team and I’m not afraid to use them,” Maria replies

“You’re not our liaison anymore, Maria,” Natasha states gently. “That kind of stuff is Sharon’s job now.”

“Right, sorry. Still getting used to the new job and all. I’ll call Sharon, and you do some nagging on your end. I want that report. I also want a report on what happened in Greenland. Who exactly was there with Skye?”

“I’ll get on Steve’s case. It’s been a crazy couple of days around here. Lady Sif and Carol Danvers were with her,” Natasha replies

“Carol, right. I still haven’t heard back from Fury. When he told me about Carol a few months ago, he mentioned he had some way to get in touch with her in an emergency, ask her if it works both ways. As a matter of fact, tell Steve I still need a report on Carol and Sif. Coffee on Sunday?”

“I’ll pass that along. 10 o’clock at the usual place sound good?”

“Sounds perfect. See you later, Nat.”

“Bye, Maria.”

Maria sighs and puts her head down on her desk. The Avengers don’t have to tell her everything they do, but things like one of her reserve agents getting powers and aliens coming in from outer space would be nice to know. 

She lifts her head and grabs the report. It needs a little annotating, and then her assistant will scan it into the system. Such is the thrilling life of the Director.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is two days late bc writer's block and crazy schedules. I'm very sorry.

Steve is in one of the training rooms when Nat comes up to him about backlogged reports. 

“Steve, I just got off the phone with Maria. You never filed a report on Carol or Skye’s powers with Sharon? I know I wrote a report on Carol and May never forgets that sort of thing. What’s going on?”

Steve sighs and puts his face in his hands. Leading the team has been really stressful, and adding Bucky’s recovery and his own issues to it has made the last six months incredibly hard. He draws himself up and puts on his Captain America face. “I’m so sorry, Nat. I completely forgot. I will go do that now,” Steve states briskly, trying to leave the room. 

Natasha steps in front of him and crosses her arms. She glares at him until he stops trying to leave. “Don’t lie to me. What’s really going on, Steve?” she asks firmly. 

“A lot, OK? A lot is going on. I know you aren’t Bucky’s biggest fan, and I have no clue why, but it’s hard to see your best friend so different.” 

Natasha places her hand on his arm. “I understand. After New York, Clint wasn’t Clint for a little while. Kate and I pulled him out of it, but it was hard on us too. We leaned on our support system really heavily. You need to do the same. We’re here for you, Steve. Trust us.”

Steve takes a deep breath and hugs Natasha. “Thanks, Nat. I’ll work on it. And I’ll go get those reports to Sharon.”

Nat smiles at him. Steve heads out and she begins her workout. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Halfway through, she notices Wanda watching. 

“Hey, Wanda. Do you need something?”

“Well, I’ve been watching you dance, and it’s just so beautiful. Do you think you could teach me a little?”

“Of course! We can start now. Go put on your workout clothes and meet me back here.”

Wanda disappears and Nat grins after her. She hasn’t taught ballet since she was undercover in Paris probably five years ago. This will be fun, and good for Wanda’s combat skills. 

Wanda comes back downstairs and they go into the small dance studio. They stretch to warm up and begin the lesson.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh, uh, hi, Bobbi. I didn’t know you were still here.” Clint scratches the back of his next as he talks. 

“Yeah, my team and I leave for HQ early tomorrow. Director Hill has been crazy busy so transport for us has been at the bottom of the priority list.”

“Well, you should come back and visit. The whole team, I mean.” 

“I’m sure we will. Now that SHIELD and the Avengers are working together again, it will be nice to see my friends here.” Bobi offers Clint a smile and walks off. 

“Hey, Bobbi, have you seen Hunter?”

“Sorry, Mack, but I haven’t seen him since this morning. I can scare him up if you want me to?”

“If I may, Mr. Hunter is currently in the lab with Agent Fitz. Would you like me to alert him that his presence is desired, Agent Mackenzie?

“Forgot about the AI,” Mack grumbles. “That would be great, thanks.”

“Of course, Agent Mackenzie. Mr. Hunter says he will be up in one moment.”

“Thanks, JARVIS,” Bobbi replies, turning back to her phone. “Hey, looks like we’ve got a mission coming up. Three days back on base, and then we leave for England.”

“Who’s going?”

“You, me, Hunter, and we get a strike team as backup. Trip’s got another mission.”

“Great. More missions. Hopefully no Asgardian warrior maidens or superpowered agents this time,” responds a sarcastic voice from the doorway. 

“Hey, Hunter,” Bobbi looks up from her phone and grins at the statement. “What have you been doing in the lab?” 

“Arguing with that Fitz about football. You see-”

“I’m going to stop you right there. I really don’t want to hear about football right now,” Bobbi replies. 

Hunter turns to Mack with an eye roll. “And this is why we broke up. Some of us have our priorities straight, while others…”

“Thank you, Hunter. We’re leaving tomorrow, by the way. Pack your bags.” Bobbi leaves the room, heading for the training areas.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye beams with joy the whole flight back to the Tower. She finally got a chance to let loose and try out her powers. They do need to find a way to stop the breaks, though. It wasn't bad this time, just one teeny tiny fracture, but her arms could get severely damaged if this keeps up. Hopefully Jemma can cook something up.

Lady Sid smiles at her from across the Quinjet’s aisle. Carol is having the time of her life flying the thing, and Skye isn’t sure there will be any survivors. Well, Sif and Carol are basically immortal, so she’d be the only casualty. 

“Captain Danvers, this is SHIELD HQ. You are entering American airspace and we request that you cloak your aircraft while flying over civilian populations.”

“Copy that, SHIELD HQ,” Carol responds, pushing the cloaking button as she speaks.

The plane does a few more tricks before landing on the Tower landing pad. It was originally designed for helicopters, but a Quinjet can land there just fine. The three of them step off the Quinjet to see Coulson and May waiting just inside, arms crossed and a disappointed expression on their faces.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda is walking through the halls looking for her purse. She knows she had it this morning during Daily Briefing, so maybe it’s in the conference room? She hops out of the elevator on the correct floor and heads for the conference room they used this morning. 

Wanda only makes it halfway down the hall before the Intruder Alarm goes off. She panics for a moment before remembering protocol. Go to a secured space, text your location to the group chat, and await further instructions. She starts running, trying to get to the bathrooms. All the Tower bathrooms have a secret, secured area. Wanda starts hoping and praying that she makes it. 

She sees five men in gas masks come around the corner and knows she won’t make it in an instant. They will either kill or capture her, and based on the patch on their uniform, she’s hoping for kill. Wanda tries to use her powers but there isn’t enough time. The men fire gas canisters at her and she crumples to the ground. Her last thought before passing out is a wish. A wish that whether or not she wakes up, the Avengers storm whatever base she’s taken to. If she’s taken, then there are surely other powered people going through the same thing. Wanda’s body seizes once and then the darkness takes her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS END NOTE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR WANDAVISION EPISODE 5
> 
> So, Wanda's birthyear is confirmed in this episode as being 1989, making her 26 in Age of Ultron. Anyone else think that there's no way she was over 20? Tell me in the comments.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday! This chapter is in the same format as Chapter 1 and it's a longer one! Hope you enjoy.

Jane is hunkered down alone in a safe room in her apartment. She has no clue what’s happening and she’s terrified. JARVIS has only told her that she needs to stay put for the time being and that everything is under control. The Tower is supposed to be impenetrable and safe. She hopes FitzSimmons got to a safe area. They don’t seem like they have much experience with this sort of thing. 

Jane pulls out her StarkPhone. The Internet is still working, so she projects a holograph of her current project out of the phone and starts looking at it closer. She may as well get some work done while she’s stuck in here. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pepper makes sure all the staff on the executive floor are in the safe room before she enters. She closes and locks the door and takes a seat by the door, reaching into her purse to make sure her gun is still in there. FitzSimmons provided her with what they call a Night-Night Pistol and Nat taught her how to shoot it. Her hand touches the metal of the gun and she relaxes a little. 

Darcy is in the room too, and she’s taken complete control. Everyone is calm and seated, and Darcy has Ferris Bueller playing on the wall for everyone to watch. There are a few complaints, but on the whole, almost everyone seems to be enjoying the movie. Some people are on their phones, presumably working or distracting themselves. 

Everyone who works here knows the hazards of working under the Avengers' place of residence, but that doesn’t make this sort of situation any less terrifying. Hopefully, the team will sound the all-clear soon. Pepper pulls out her own phone and starts checking in with the Chief Safety Officers of each floor to make sure they’re safe. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha starts running as soon as she hears the Intruder Alarm. JARVIS directs her to the common floor and tells her May is already working on the agents there but could use a hand. She was in the armory getting ready to go out for a drink, so she already has plenty of weapons on her person, and she’s there quickly. About 25 HYDRA agents have swarmed the floor, and JARVIS says they’re on other floors too. Luckily, they seem to only be targeting the Avengers section of the building, so the SI employees should be safe. 

Natasha pulls out her guns and starts shooting. Melinda is the only other person on the floor, but the two of them can easily take 25 non-enhanced agents. JARVIS has locked down the floor at Natasha’s orders, so no agents can escape. Melinda has already taken down five or so agents, and Nat has gotten about ten. She tosses May a gun and starts fighting. It’s been way too long since she and Melinda have gotten a good fight together. 

It really is refreshing to work with someone who’s so good at what she does. The two of them move together like clockwork, May’s kicks and punches driving the agents directly into the path of Nat’s Widow Bites. One agent seems to be giving May trouble, backing her into a corner, but before Nat can help out May basically runs up the wall, springs off, and kicks the guy in the chest before landing on her feet. Natasha yells over to her “You have GOT to teach me that one, May!”  
May just smiles and the two of them turn to face the five remaining agents. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye, Sif, and Carol have just stepped off the QuinJet and are being yelled at by Coulson when the agents land. They watch a SHIELD marked helicopter start coming in to land on the helipad, thinking Bobbi’s team was leaving early until they see the swarm of agents get out. The agents haven’t seemed to notice them standing down three floors with the QuinJet and Coulson wants to keep it that way. The four of them slip under an overhang. Coulson calls out quietly for JARVIS to open the safe room. A panel of the wall opens, revealing a relatively large room. Coulson pulls Skye inside and grabs two guns from a cache in the wall. He hands one to Skye and takes one for himself, shutting the safe room door with Skye inside. 

Skye resigns herself to boredom in the safe room. She understands why she has to stay here, but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. 

Coulson, Sif, and Carol prepare to move. There’s an emergency staircase right inside, so Sif and Coulson slip in. Carol flies up to take out the helicopter. They don’t know what kind of weapons it has, and shooting it down could be dangerous, so she’s going to take it out over the open ocean and destroy it. The helicopter begins to pull away, so Carol strikes, grabbing the thing and heading out to sea. The pilot bails out, screaming the whole time. 

Coulson and Sif are heading down the stairs. JARVIS has sounded the alarm, so all the non-fighters should be in safe spaces soon. JARVIS informs Coulson that the conference room’s floor has been compromised and he can’t see what’s going on down there. Sif swings over the edge of the stair railing and drops down to the appropriate floor. Coulson elects to use the rigging system set up by Clint and Nat and they exit the stairwell. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kate and Clint are in the archery range that connects their apartments when HYDRA agents burst through the windows. Dumb move. They had been practicing with net arrows, and they got the 20 or so men who came through that window and others on the floor tied up in no time. Luckily, no agents came through Nat’s windows. She would be MAD if her stuff got damaged by falling agents. 

Clint tosses Kate a gas mask and releases a Night-Night Arrow. Soon, the dendrotoxin gas in the arrow seeps through the whole floor and all the tied-up agents are rendered unconscious. The archers grab their quivers and head where JARVIS directs them, the 92nd floor. 

Arriving two floors up, Jane, Thor, and Darcy’s apartment, they see agents everywhere. They seem to be looking for someone, just like the agents on their floor and are systematically clearing all the rooms on the floor. Kate hopes Jane and/or Darcy made it to the safe room if they were in the apartment. The agents haven’t noticed them yet, so they go straight for the Night-Night gas. When all the agents are unconscious, they tie them up.

JARVIS then directs them to the lab floor, and they head for the stairwell. They’ll have to make a pit stop to grab more arrows, but they should be able to make it quickly with Nat and Clint’s rigging system. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve, Sam, and Bucky are in the New York SHIELD cafeteria when they get the alert on their phones that there's been a break-in. They get up and start moving with purpose (running causes too much panic) to Maria’s office. Her assistant lets them right in and Steve starts talking as soon as the door closes. “Director, HYDRA has breached the Tower. Sam and I have to go now. Can Bucky stay here?” 

Maria immediately agrees. Sam and Steve head out as fast as they can without running and she just looks at Bucky. 

“Are you allowed to shoot?”

He nods his head, still looking at her suspiciously. 

“Great. We’re going to the range. I can’t send agents to the Tower because the Avengers don’t need the headache of working with a ‘terrorist organization’ so I need to get my frustration out. Let’s go.” The two of them head for the range, where they scare all the junior agents out of their minds. 

Steve and Sam are glad the Tower is so close to SHIELD. They break the speed limit the whole way back, but luckily don’t get caught. They arrive at the Tower fifteen minutes after they get the alert, and run inside. JARVIS alerts them that there are multiple injured but the medical floor isn’t secure, so they head straight there, grabbing guns from a cache of Natasha’s on the way. She’ll be spitting mad later, but they can deal with that after they secure the medical area. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jemma is talking to Bobbi in the bio lab while Fitz and Hunter continue their football argument. Jemma is so jealous of Bobbi. She’s so tall, strong, confident, and beautiful. Jemma feels so short and quiet in comparison. The boys are getting louder and louder, and things are being waved around, so Bobbi heads over to break it up. Jemma notices her batons are tucked into her waistband. Sometimes it feels like everyone in this Tower always has a weapon on them. Natasha’s guns on the table at dinner, Bucky’s constant fiddling with knives, and Tony’s increasingly discreet suits make her feel so unprepared. 

A moment later, Jemma is glad Bobbi always has her batons. There are men pouring in through the windows, shooting at them. Hunter grabs a gun off the table and joins Bobbi in fighting the men. Fitz grabs a frozen Jemma and they hurtle under the table, hunkering down. Fitz reaches up and grabs two Night-Night Guns and they shoot the men in the ankles. The new design allows the guns to work on any bare skin, so they drop a few agents. Once the men in the main lab have been disposed of, Jemma and Fitz head straight for a safe room. Bobbi and Hunter head out to clear the rest of the floor, and JARVIS alerts them that he will send reinforcements. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Tony is talking to the two SHIELD guys, Trip, and Mack, in the garage. Mack's a mechanic, so he’s fascinated by the improvements on the cars, and Trip is really into LOLA, Coulson’s Corvette. She's a great car, Tony will freely admit, but she’s not THAT great. 

The three of them have just cracked the hood of LOLA when JARVIS alerts them to HYDRA in the building. Tony calls the suit to him immediately and the other two guys reach for weapons as well. Mack requisitions a large fire ax Nat gave him as a joke, and Trip grabs a gun out of his waistband. 

The three of them head up to the Avengers and staff offices. JARVIS assured them other areas were being taken care of and that this was the best place to go. They quickly take down the agents on that floor and head up to start securing the offices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IN case anyone was wondering about timing seeing as the last chapter and this chapter all occur on the same day, Skye, Carol, and Sif left early in the morning, Maria called Nat around lunch, and Wanda was taken around 4. This chapter covers about 20 minutes. Next week will be in the same format, and we will find out what happens next.


	14. Chapter 14

Sif and Coulson arrive on the conference floor just as it clears out. They see the last of the HYDRA agents jump out the windows, straight into nets dangling below a previously cloaked plane. 

Sif takes off at a run but the plane takes off fast and she was on the other side of the floor. She sees blood on the floor, not smeared, just a little bit of blood, near one of the corners of the hall. Coulson catches up to her and looks around the crime scene of sorts. JARVIS speaks up just then. “The Agents captured Miss Maximoff. When she was knocked unconscious, her body let out an unintentional surge of energy that temporarily left my processors on this floor unable to operate. I am now back online and can report she was knocked out and taken away by the HYDRA agents.”

“This must be her blood,” Sif says. “The poor child. She has only been with the Avengers for a short time, correct?”

“Only two months,” Coulson replies. “That was probably their objective. Get Wanda, get out. HYDRA gave her powers, it makes total sense they would want her back.”

Sif shakes her head mournfully. “We must find her. Men like that should never be trusted with someone as powerful as Miss Maximoff.”

Coulson sighs. “Agreed. Especially since they can play with someone’s brain, turn it into their own personal playground and make that person their minion. Barnes was bad enough, but someone with Wanda’s abilities? We were lucky the Avengers got to her before Von Strucker believed her or her brother ready for missions, but now that luck is gone.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clint and Kate arrive on the lab floor to the sight of Bobbi Morse knocking out the last remaining HYDRA agent. Clint just stops and stares, but Kate smacks the back of his head hard and starts tying the agents up. Clint, rubbing the back of his head, eventually gets over himself and starts helping. Hunter enters the room and announces that all the agents on the floor are knocked out and tied up. 

JARVIS alerts them that all HYDRA agents are either under control, unconscious, or out of the building. 

Fitz and Simmons emerge from the lab floor’s safe room and survey the carnage. Bobbi has a few small cuts on her face and long gashes on her thigh and upper arm. Hunter has the beginnings of a black eye and small cuts everywhere.

Jemma pulls out the first aid kit and stitches up Bobbi's worst injuries. Clint and Hunter grab bandaids out of the kit and start applying them. Kate grabs an Ace wrap, saying she rolled her ankle badly and wants to make sure it doesn’t get worse. 

After the first aid is done, they all look more like they’ve been in a minor car crash than a battle with the forces of HYDRA. JARVIS suddenly tells them that Wanda has been kidnapped. Everyone stops what they are doing and grabs their weapons. 

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Clint asks, panic and fear audible in his voice. 

“I would have, Agent Barton, but there was a technological error.”

Clint mutters angrily about damn AIs that can do everything except the important stuff. JARVIS ignores him and tells them that everyone is hauling the HYDRA agents down to the basement and then meeting on the common floor. They all start dragging unconscious agents to the elevator, stacking them on top of each other until all twenty are in there. Fitz, Simmons, Hunter, Bobbi, Clint, and Kate all pile in with them and head for the basement in a very crowded and odorous elevator.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jane receives the all-clear from JARVIS and exits the safe room, finding HYDRA agents piled up somewhat neatly in a corner of the living room. She knows someone will come to collect them so she heads straight for her lab. Luckily, very little of her equipment was damaged. She sets about putting it back the way she likes it. 

Thor and Bruce were away from the Tower at the time of the break-in, they volunteered to grab some of Jane and Darcy’s stuff from New Mexico, as Clint basically kidnapped them and didn’t really give them enough time to pack. Jane is still a little bad at him. Barton is a real pain in the ass. Jane hopes Thor and Bruce will return soon. Some of the stuff still in New Mexico is very important to her research.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha and May look around at the unconscious and accidentally dead HYDRA agents in the common areas. Natasha presses on a section of the wall which opens to reveal guns, knives, and a lot of super-strength zip ties. She and May zip-tie each agent’s hands and feet. They have barely spoken the entire time they’ve been fighting, and Natasha really appreciates May’s appreciation for silence. 

The two of them make quick work of tying the agents up and load all of them, even the dead ones, into the elevator. They ride down to the basement where they toss the living agents into small holding cells (soundproof, so they can’t talk to each other) and haul the dead ones to the morgue. Nat is really glad Tony insisted on 200 small holding cells. They aren’t designed for more than 3-hour occupancy, but they are little glass boxes that move around as needed. 

As they get ready to leave, they see Kate, Clint, Bobbi, Hunter, Fitz, and Simmons unloading their own elevator of agents. Natasha shuffles the cells around and opens the doors so they can fill up some more cells. JARVIS sends them upstairs to clear unconscious agents from residential floors. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve and Sam make it to the medical area too late. Luckily, the floor isn't kept staffed. SI has a clinic in its part of the building and if Jemma needs nurses she calls down there. The medical area is completely cleared out, not a single agent in sight. JARVIS alerts them that Wanda was taken by the agents, so they immediately head for the conference floor, where JARVIS last saw her.

When the elevator arrives, it’s full of unconscious HYDRA agents and bickering, injured SHIELD agents + Kate so Sam and Steve take the stairs. Steve obviously makes it to the conference floor first, but he waits for Sam this time.

Walking through the door, they see Coulson and Lady Sif standing near a large smear of blood on the floor. 

“Wanda’s?” Sam asks.

“We think so,” Coulson confirms. 

Steve sighs, thinking about how awful it has to be for that poor girl. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trip, Mack, and Tony haven’t even made it to the offices yet when JARVIS alerts them that the battle is over. They instead head down to the basement to assist with the processing of new prisoners. Also because Tony wants to see his cells in action. 

When they arrive in the basement, Tony sees a whole lot of people. There are at least a hundred agents in the cells, Natasha is on the phone, probably to Maria Hill, a lot of injured SHIELD agent-y people are standing in a corner arguing, and The Hawkeye Show Starring Hawkeye & Hawkeye is busy poking each other with arrows. 

Agent May walks over to Trip, Mack, and him. That woman scares Tony. She barely speaks, never smiles, and could kill him ten different ways without trying. So could Natasha, sure, but Natasha smiles sometimes, and doesn’t constantly wear a SHIELD tac suit the way May does.

“Trip, Mack, Director Hill is taking you two and Hunter back with the HYDRA agents in a few hours,” May says in a crisp, all-business tone. “Morse is staying here to help find Maximoff. Go get packed. Stark, the rest of us are meeting in the common area in one hour. Do what you want until then.” Agent May walks off after she finishes speaking, Natasha hands the phone to her and she exchanges a quick conversation with whoever is on the other end. 

Tony heads straight up to the Executive Offices after Agent May releases him. Pepper is probably going to kill him for not getting up there faster. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pepper and Darcy evacuate the safe room as soon as JARVIS tells them it’s safe. Pepper tells JARVIS to send all the Stark Industries employees home for the day. She and Darcy check through the executive floor to make sure all the important documents are still in place. 

Tony arrives just as they certify that nothing is missing. “Pep! Darcy! There you are. All the HYDRA guys have been caught. But they got Wanda. We don’t know where she is.”

Darcy groans and Pepper sighs. “Poor Wanda. What are you doing to find her?” Pepper replies pointedly.

“We are all going to try and find her, Pepper. There’s a meeting on the common floor in an hour.”

Darcy and Pepper both tell him they’ll be there and Darcy heads off to find Jane. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye leaves the safe room the second JARVIS tells her she can and heads straight for the basement. Hopefully, she can get in to see Ward and interrogate him about what just happened. Maybe the men were trying to break him out, who knows.

When she gets to the basement, however, she instantly knows she won’t be speaking to Ward. She sees tons of HYDRA agents in what Clint calls the “Temporary Storage Cells” and tons of personnel around too. Bobbi looks pretty beat up, she has bandages around her thigh and upper arm and Skye can see the blood soaking through from fifty feet away. Kate Bishop doesn’t look great either, she’s got a bandage on her ankle and is wincing as she walks over to Natasha.

All in all, however, everyone looks fine. Almost everyone is down here, except Carol, Sif, Coulson, Tony, Jane, Wanda, Darcy, and Pepper. Skye sees Jemma force Bobbi to sit down so Jemma can rewrap her arm, and she sees Natasha make Kate take a seat as well. Everyone looks tense and worried, however. Skye walks over to May. May always has answers. 

“May, why does everyone look so grim?”

“HYDRA took Wanda,” May replies shortly. Skye gasps, gaze flying to her bandaged arms. If HYDRA had known she is enhanced, would they have taken her too?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda slowly wakes up. She aches all over and has no clue why. Suddenly, she remembers. Agents coming around the corner, that logo on their clothes, blacking out, falling, and pain. She’s strapped down to a table in what looks like a laboratory, wearing nothing but a hospital gown.

“Well, look who’s up.” Wanda musters all her energy to look for the person speaking, and as soon as she sees him she wishes, not for the first time, that she had died with her parents that day six years ago.


	15. Discovery Requires Experimentation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort-of spoilers for WandaVision Episode 8. Really just about how Wanda got her powers. 
> 
> There are some icky bits in this chapter! If anyone recognizes the chapter title, they probably have an idea. There's a description of medical procedures and intense pain. If that's a trigger or issue for you, skip the first and last section. The first section ends where it says "Hill and Barnes have arrived.." and the last section begins right after "They all get back in and ride up to the common floor." Both phrases are bolded and there's a quick synopsis at the end.

“Well, Ms. Maximoff, it’s lovely to see you again.” the man says, a smile on his face. “You, my dear, are something else. The only one to survive contact with the Scepter, with the exception of your brother and no one knows how. I intend to find out, though it may be a bit painful for you. After all, discovery requires experimentation.”

Wanda is terrified. Whitehall had come to see her after von Strucker gave her powers, but he hadn’t been allowed in the room with her. She had wondered why, but Jemma Simmons’s loud thoughts over the past few days told her why. He is supposed to be dead, shot by Coulson in Puerto Rico. Yet somehow he is standing over her, looking exactly as he did before.

Wanda tries to free herself with her powers, closing her eyes and trying to coax the red energy to her hands. Nothing happens. Instead of the usual warmth using her powers brings, all she feels is the cold, hard table beneath her. Whitehall laughs. 

“Did you really think I would allow you to use your abilities? You are far too powerful for that, Miss Maximoff.”

Wanda tries to scream, but she can’t even do that. She can’t move, her powers don’t work, and she can’t speak. She tries to control her emotions but tears start rolling down her cheeks. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Whitehall donning a surgical mask and gloves. One of his assistants flips her onto her back and straps her back down. A section of her hip is bared and the rest of her is draped in cloth.

Wanda continues to cry silent tears. She has no clue what’s going on, she only knows that she’s absolutely terrified. Something is rubbed onto the bare skin, and she sees Whitehall walk around behind her. She feels a sharp pain in her hip bone and knows Whitehall is taking bone marrow. The tears start flowing faster. The first sample was always easier. It hurt really bad, but it was nothing compared to the second. Wanda hopes Whitehall only needs the fluid and doesn’t dig deeper for the solid parts.

Dr. List used to take bone marrow every month. He said there were many peculiarities about it, and he wished to understand them. All Wanda knows is that it hurts like hell and she wants out now. Whitehall is speaking to his staff, but it’s a language Wanda doesn’t understand and her terror grows. She remembers what Natasha says about keeping control when held captive and starts controlling her breathing. She can’t do anything about the tears, but at least she won’t hyperventilate.

She’s just starting to get her breathing under control when there’s a stabbing pain in her hip. Whitehall is even less gentle than List was and Wanda can’t think of anything but the pain, and the knowledge that there will be more. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Hill and Barnes have arrived at the Tower** , and Carol is back too. Everyone is gathered on the common floor, which is covered in blood, and Jemma is patching them up while they talk strategy.

“Do we have any way to track this jet?” Bobbi asks while pacing and twirling her staves. Everyone except Natasha, May, and Maria are far away from her. 

Fitz responds “No, but did we capture any high-ranking HYDRA members? Officers or something who may know locations?”

May shakes her head. “As far as I can tell, they’re all low-ranking. Maria, you’re taking them back to SHIELD, right?”

Maria nods. “Yeah. What about Ward? Nat, has he said anything about Wanda?”

“No. I’m going to go ask him some questions. Bobbi, with me. Skye, you come too, but wait outside. He wants to see you and I’m not giving him what he wants unless absolutely necessary.”

The three women leave the room, heading for the basement. Maria calls a nearby base to see if they can get her a cargo jet. Stark’s cells can be loaded into it, and the prisoners unloaded at a SHIELD facility. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha walks into Ward’s cell, Widow’s Bites lit up bright electric blue. Bobbi follows immediately behind, looking around the Vibranium-reinforced room. Natasha walks up to the control panel and presses the appropriate buttons so she can see and hear Ward. The man is doing push-ups, and startles slightly when Natasha taps her foot behind him.

“Hello, Mr. Ward,” she says, voice cold and hard. She sees Bobbi beside her put on what Hunter always called her interrogation face, indifferent and cruel. 

“Hello, Agent Romanoff. Who’s the friend?”

“None of your business. I ask the questions. Now, we’ve only met once and normally I would take a little longer to, ah, get to know you, but HYDRA has forced my hand. They took a friend of mine, you see, and I don’t take kindly to that. Now tell me, what does HYDRA want with a teenager named Wanda Maximoff?”

“Maximoff? Do you mean the witch? They’d want to experiment on her, of course! One would think that would be obvious unless you don’t know who she is?”

Bobbi steps forward. “We know exactly what Maximoff is, and we want her back. Where would HYDRA take an enhanced person like her?”

“Bobbi Morse. Of course, you would join up with the Avengers. Sleeping with Barton again, are we?”

“How many times must I remind you you don’t ask the questions?” Natasha says, voice devoid of all emotion.

“Well, alright then. I’m still not answering you. I told you already, Romanoff. I only speak to Skye.”

Natasha steps forward, a smirk growing on her face. “And I told you already that I won’t take that kind of shit from you. Answer the questions, Ward, or you will regret it.”

“What will you do, torture me? I won’t give in to the pain, I have no family I care about and Skye is on your side, you have no leverage.”

“Wrong. I do have leverage. Morse, go get the girl,” Natasha replies. They’d agreed on the way down there to use Skye as leverage, which was her idea. Natasha doesn’t like it, but they need answers fast. It’s been an hour and a half and they still have no clue where Wanda is. 

Ward pales, the first outward sign of fear he’s shown. He starts pacing as soon as Bobbi brings Skye in. She’s handcuffed, and Bobbi has a “gun” to the back of her head. She’s covered in cuts and scrapes from shattering windows when her powers manifested, and her arms are in the special casts Jemma and Bruce developed. All in all, she looks like a prisoner. 

“Ok, I’ll answer the questions! Just don’t hurt her. There’s only one place set up for someone like her, in Upstate New York. It's under a restaurant called the Squid Cafe, in Saratoga Springs, I think. Garrett was stationed there for a while, he told me about it.”

Natasha smiles coldly at him and gestures for Bobbi to remove Skye.

“You won’t hurt her, right? She’s done nothing wrong.”

“Thank you, for your cooperation,” Natasha replies, turning the barrier opaque and turning off sound.

She walks out of the cell and sees Bobbi taking off Skye’s cuffs. “Everyone good?” 

“Fine, Nat,” Bobbi replies. Skye just nods. Natasha gives the younger woman a small smile and leads the way to the elevator. **They all get back in and ride up to the common floor.**

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whitehall finished the bone marrow extraction about an hour ago and bandaged Wanda's hip. He’s currently drawing blood and lots of it. She’s starting to feel really woozy when an assistant takes the needle out of her arm. She’s still on the table, in a pristine hospital gown. Whitehall looks down at her. His assistants remove the gown and drape her body with sheets, leaving her abdomen bare. 

“Miss Maximoff, I believe I have led you on. You see, I have no interest in keeping you alive longer than necessary. At this point, all I need to know is what made you survive contact with the Scepter. Discovery requires experimentation, so we should get started.”

An assistant inserts an IV into her hand, and darkness takes her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daniel Whitehall performs a bone marrow exam on a distraught Wanda with little anesthesia, after doing that and drawing blood he tells her he's only keeping her alive until he finds out what made her survive contact with the scepter.


End file.
